Even before it was announced that he would be taking a break from the UFC, Conor McGregor had extended the queue for a lightweight title shot by jumping in ahead of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson to take on Eddie Alvarez.
Both Nurmagomedov and Ferguson will now have to wait at least ten months before they get a chance to take on McGregor for the lightweight title.
Speaking to Submission Radio, Ferguson called McGregor a 'paper champ' while also adding that he feels it wrong to even mention the Irishman's name due to him only having fought once at 155 in the UFC.
This guy's picking his opponents. He's a paper champ. When you're doing that, of course you're going to be watching who you're fighting...I can't really see Conor as the champion. I see right now as if the title was open. Conor's taking a step off and I don't even like to throw his name in because the dude fought one person at 155. I've been sitting here and Khabib, he's been kind of inactive. I've been the most active in this damn place... I'm racking up points here, that's all that matters. I'm gonna go down in the books as a living legend. That's what's gonna happen, I'm gonna be in the UFC Hall of Fame.
Ferguson and Nurmagomedov have been scheduled to fight each other twice in the past year but both times the matchup was cancelled due to injury - the first time to the Russian, the second time to the American.
An interim title fight between the two is now the obvious scenario to give the division a sense of progression.
Let's just throw it up for an interim belt. If he's [McGregor] gonna take a step out for a while then they need to throw an interim belt out there, have a champ out there and when he comes back he can be ready for that ass whooping which will be me.
Ferguson sees McGregor as being a threat to neither him or Nurmagomedov. He does admit that McGregor's left hand is a weapon but that he has abilities to counter the current lightweight champion.
Conor is no threat to what myself of Khabib has. I see no threat in this dude. This dude is just a lot of talk. He has a nice left hand but my solid, straight right and my left hook and my lead uppercut and my inside leg kicks and my whole repertoire is better than what he's got.
When you put Conor up against a guy like me who's unpredictable - attacking your ankles, attacking your chin and your midsection - and you've got Khabib Nurmagomedov who can take a punch here or there and he's got some time off so he's got full rest recovery in his body, he's gonna be able to take the punishment.
You can listen to Ferguson on Submission Radio below.
